Gallon was jailed for six years and three months for trafficking for sexual exploitation

Newcastle grooming gang underestimated victims' desire to get justice

A senior detective who investigated the Newcastle grooming gang said the abusers underestimated their victims' desire to get justice.

Speaking after sentences totalling more than 180 years were handed down for 17 people at Newcastle Crown Court, Detective Superintendent Steve Barron said: "These offenders targeted these women because of their vulnerabilities.

"They hugely underestimated their strength and determination to seek justice, they thought no-one would believe them.

"We believed them, as did the jury.

"I have spoken to some of these victims and they are lovely people.

"They have had a tough life and to then go through courts is so difficult for them.

"It has just been brilliant to see how their bravery is now showing justice."

The detective said more work will be done in local communities to protect vulnerable people.

He said: "This is not something the public should feel alarmed about, but more reassured that we are proactively seeking victims and working with communities to eradicate this behaviour of offending.

"We want to ensure there is a repugnant stigma associated with sexual exploitation in all communities and in particular against individuals who think this treatment of women and girls is in any way acceptable.

"Protecting vulnerable people is our absolute priority and it is what we are here to do."

One victim of the gang's offending said in her impact statement: "I am very wary of being in any situation where I will be alone with an Asian man.

"This is because it was all Asian men involved in the offending.

"This is not about race.

"I would he happy to be alone with an Asian female.

"I worry an Asian man could be linked to the offenders and what they are thinking when they look at me."

The court heard other victims have described being treated "like a piece of meat", being laughed at by their attackers and feeling suicidal because of their ordeals.

One woman now sleeps with a knife by her bed and wakes up screaming.

Another said she lives with a feeling of guilt that she did not speak out about what happened to her sooner.

Married Habibur Rahim, 34, has been jailed for 29 years for conspiracy to traffic for sexual exploitation, trafficking for sexual exploitation, supplying drugs, rape, human trafficking and conspiracy to incite prostitution for gain.

Abdul Sabe, 40, who was already a sex offender, was jailed for 12 years for supplying drugs, conspiracy to commit sexual assault, conspiracy to traffic for sexual exploitation and conspiracy to incite prostitution for gain.

Badrul Hussain, 37, has been jailed for four years for supply of Mcat and three counts of permitting premises to be used for the supply of cocaine.

Mohibur Rahman, 44, who is already serving a 12 year jail term for violence, was given a further four and a half years for drugs offences and conspiracy to incite prostitution for gain. When Rahman was arrested he told police "you can't control your white girls, that's what I see in this country". After a previous arrest, for unrelated offending, he called custody staff "white b***ards" and said one officer was a "white wh**e", a "white s**g" and threatened to cut her throat.

Jahanger Zaman, 45, was jailed for 29 years for rape, conspiracy to incite prostitution and supplying drugs, including large amounts of heroin which he was involved in transporting from the Midlands to the north of England

Mohammed Azram, 35, was jailed for 12-and-a-half years for sexual assault, supplying drugs and conspiracy to incite prostitution.

Eisa Mousavi, 42, was jailed for 20 years for three offences of rape and conspiracy to incite prostitution.

Nashir Uddin, 35, was jailed for 11-and-a-half years for conspiracy to incite prostitution and supplying drugs.

Taherul Alam, 32, was jailed for eight years for conspiracy to incite prostitution and attempted sexual assault.

Monjur Choudhury, 33, was jailed for five years for conspiracy to incite prostitution and supplying drugs.

Prabhat Nelli, 33, was jailed for four years for conspiracy to incite prostitution and supplying drugs.

Saiful Islam, 35, was jailed for ten years for rape.

Yasser Hussain, 28, was jailed for two years for assault by beating and intimidation.

Redwan Siddquee, 32, was jailed for 16 months for supplying drugs.

Mohammed Hassan Ali, 34, was jailed for seven years for sexual activity with a child and drugs offences.

Addulhamid Minoyee, 34, was jailed for 15-years for rape and drugs offences.

The 18th defendant will be sentenced next week.

Under-fire cops say they've have great support

A police chief who took the controversial decision to use a child rapist as an informant against the grooming gang in Newcastle said he has received hundreds of messages of support from the public.

Northumbria Chief Constable Steve Ashman said it had always been a moral question, not a legal one, whether to pay the man who can only be identified as XY almost £10,000 for information.

Mr Ashman was speaking after all but one member of a grooming gang was sentenced at Newcastle Crown Court for their roles in recruiting vulnerable young girls, giving them drugs and then persuading or forcing them into sex with them or other, older men.

The decision to use XY in Operation Shelter, despite him being convicted of drugging and raping a girl, was controversial when the details emerged last month, following a series of trials.

Mr Chapman said: "When reflecting upon the morality of the decision, I think it's important to take account of public opinion.

"If the moral compass was spinning when it was first made public a few weeks ago, when the verdicts were handed out, it's absolutely fixed now and it's fixed in our favour.

"Never in all of my time of policing have I witnessed such an outpouring of public support for what we have done.

"We have been flooded with hundreds and hundreds of messages of support for the decisions that we took.

"If I had any doubt, and I didn't personally, but if I had any doubt whether it was the right thing to do, then I'm absolutely determined now that it was."

He insisted using XY - who was not tasked to go to parties - had let police to catch dangerous men, and stopped some girls from being raped.

Mr Ashman said: "Some of it was absolutely pivotal in putting some very, very dangerous people behind bars, and more importantly, some of it was directly responsible for our finding vulnerable girls.

"If he hadn't told us the information we would've found them and it doesn't take too much of an imagination to work out what might have happened to them."

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